After lengthy delays, the UK has on Tuesday (25 April) finally introduced the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill, which will empower the country’s regulator to oversee the position of major tech firms.

The legislation echoes the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and will hand new powers to the UK’s antitrust watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). These include broadening its ability to oversee the behaviour and dominance of the most prominent players in the tech market and bringing in new consumer protection measures.

“From abuse of power by tech giants to fake reviews, scams and rip-offs like being caught in a subscription trap – consumers deserve better,” Business and Trade Minister Kevin Hollinrake said in a statement.

He added, “The new laws we’re delivering today will empower the CMA to directly enforce consumer law, strengthen competition in digital markets and ensure that people across the country keep hold of their hard-earned cash.”

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First proposed in 2020 before being shelved at the end of last year, the resurrected bill is set to empower the CMA in several areas once it has been introduced to parliament and passed.

Most notably, it will give legal backing to the regulator’s new Digital Markets Unit (DMU), which has been operating in shadow form since 2021. Initially established as non-statutory, the DMU will oversee firms deemed to have ‘Strategic Market Status’, a designation similar to ‘gatekeeper’ under the EU’s Digital Markets Act.

The body will be tasked with keeping dominance in check and ensuring that entrance to the market remains open to smaller players. Measures and powers will include, for example, requiring major companies to increase their transparency and open their data up to rival search engines.

The DMU will also be able to conduct targeted interventions and enforce tailored codes of conduct. In instances of non-compliance, the unit will have the power to fine companies up to 10% of global turnover and to impose personal liability on senior managers.

The legislation will also contain provisions covering consumer protection, allowing the CMA to adjudicate when legal violations have occurred rather than taking each case to court.

These consumer protection measures are set to cover issues such as fake reviews, with the possible introduction of a new law banning services offering them and their commission or unverified posting.

Subscription traps will also be covered to increase transparency around contracts, making it easier for customers to exit them.

This bill also intends to empower the competition authority regarding antitrust investigations, increasing flexibility regarding interventions and potentially preventing harmful mergers.

The CMA welcomed the announcement on Tuesday, with its Chief Executive, Sarah Cardell, saying that it “has the potential to be a watershed moment in the way we protect consumers in the UK and the way we ensure digital markets work for the UK economy, supporting economic growth, investment and innovation.”

The UK’s action in these areas follows similar efforts within the EU, but the two pieces of legislation are not entirely procedurally parallel.

Where the DMA takes an ex-ante approach, putting forward a set list of rules for all gatekeepers to follow, the UK is instead set to tailor its codes of conduct to specific firms, a decision that the CMA says is intended to ensure a ‘proportionate approach’ to holding tech companies accountable.

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